TORONTO -- Unions representing Ontario teachers are taking out full-page newspaper advertisements across the province Saturday, in a bid to sway public opinion during ongoing contract negotiations.
The text-heavy advertisements, paid for by all four teachers unions, claim labour talks have education workers, teachers, students and parents left with “uncertainty and stress” in the new year.
The advertisements go on to say that Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government’s education policies will have a “profoundly negative impact” on the system.
The advertisements also accused the province of making “false and exaggerated claims” in an attempt to deliberately “cloud the issues.”
“Doug Ford’s government is not telling you the truth and has launched a campaign of misinformation,” the advertisement reads.
The pitch to parents also outlines the four major demands that unions have made of the government – including reversing the increase to class sizes, the introduction of mandatory e-learning, a commitment to full-day kindergarten and a cost-of-living pay increase.
The advertisement includes images of teachers in classroom settings assisting students in a variety of tasks and asks parents to “join us in this fight.”
